Israeli Robert Schwarzman replaces Ferrari regular Carlos Sainz at Zandvoort on Friday, becoming the first rookie driver to race in 2023
Robert Schwarzman, the Ferrari team’s third driver, becomes the first Friday driver of the 2023 season to feature in a race car at the Dutch Grand Prix. The 23-year-old will be allowed to contest the first free practice session at Zandvoort in place of Carlos Sainz.
For the Russian-born driver, who drives under an Israeli licence and who competed for the Maranello-based outfit in Austin and Abu Dhabi last year, it will be the first of two rookie sessions in 2023. Each team must field a rookie at any point during the season who has not competed in more than two FT1 sessions during the season.
Schwarzman’s entry will be the first by a reserve or non-rookie driver this year, although the FT1 entries of Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant and Nyck de Vries at the opening race in Bahrain also counted.
Planning rookie entries is more difficult than ever for teams this year due to sprint weekends, overlaps with Formula 2, races on street circuits and special tyre allocations.
Ferrari has more flexibility with Schwarzman than other teams have with their rookies, as he is not currently competing in Formula 2.
Team boss Fred Vasseur confirms that the decision to forgo FT1 was taken after a discussion with Sainz: “Robert will drive in Carlos’ car at Zandvoort and in another, probably Abu Dhabi, in Charles’ car,” he says.
“It was the drivers’ decision. I gave them the choice of where they wanted to do it. I know it’s not an easy situation. But Carlos agreed with the idea. It’s not so easy to decide because you certainly can’t do it in Singapore, Japan or Las Vegas. Also, there are some sprint races in Austin and Qatar where you can’t do it.”
“Then there are races where the tyre distribution is a bit different and that is also very difficult. That means at the end of the day you don’t have so many options. “
Vasseur says the team would rather give Schwarzman the chance than give FT1 entries to Ferrari Driver Academy members Oliver Bearman and Arthur Leclerc, who are currently 6th and 14th in the Formula 2 championship.
“They need to focus on the Formula 2 championship,” he says. “And we will try to give them the opportunity to test either with the 2021 car or with another car before the end of the season. But I want to push them to focus on the Formula 2 championship. “
